I played at Jalopy maybe about a month or so ago and did this tune with my friend Joe Bellulovich... kind of impromptu.. I'd never played this tune for actual people before (although I'd posted it some time ago), and had never played with anyone else.. Joe, of course, falls right into it.
Brace yourselves... 9+ minutes... my friend Ernesto Gomez shot the video.
It's always good to hear you, Frank. I sure like the calmness/spirit of adventure on this one. I felt like you were going some new places at various times, surprising yourself, possibly. Joe sure plays well, and he listens incredibly well. A treat! All best, Johnm
Thanks, all of you... Joe is pretty incredible.. we only had four songs to do between the two of us, so we made two of them duets and the other two were solos.. we made the best of it!
warning: I've been deep in banjo mode lately, so those of you who are still practicing banjo avoidance in all its forms should DEFINITELY avoid this post. You have been warned. Proceed at your own risk.
Of the stuff I've been doing lately, only this one is directly related to country blues, and you might like it, although it kinda got away from me. It clocks in at 10+ minutes.. I didn't even know it was possible for me to play one banjo tune for that long:
It's actually the third in a series of postings. If you're interested in wider ruminations on my favorite living old-time banjo players, you can check them out here:
Delightful, Frankie. Proof that not all banjos sound the same, and not all banjos sound annoying--two of the most common beliefs held by the anti-banjo community.
I can't deny a little of Jaybird worming his way in there (and a bunch of other guys, too), but when I first heard it years ago, it seemed to me (and still does) that Pat's point of departure was Scott Dunbar's "44 Blues." That made me go back to it and listen to it a few times... and then back to Pat... and then I had to just let it steep for a while and it just kinda took off.
still in banjo mode... this is tangentially related to blues
In the car today, I was listening to a recording of Dent Wimmer, a banjo player from SW Virginia, and he played this tune. After he played it (only sang the one verse), he said that he got the tune from the "Smith boys" - three African American brothers that played music and had died some time before this recording of Wimmer was made. "And it was a pretty lonesome old tune the way they sung it. They sung just like they was afraid of something."
This is great. I was just listening the other day to the recordings of Dent Wimmer on Old Originals vol 1. Its cool to hear him and Sam Conner break down their versions of Shooting Creek. Are there any other recordings of Dent out there?